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Ch. 13: Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire.

Ch. 12: Historical Diamonds Page of 401 Ch. 13: Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire. Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
     
     
 
CHAPTER XIII.
  
 
 
  
 
THE PRECIOUS CORUNDUM. — SAPPHIRE, ASTERIA, EMERALD,
AMETHYST, TOPAZ, RUBY.
It is an interesting fact that the rarest and the most valuable substances in nature are produced from the most common elements, — the diamond from carbon, and the gems of
the corundum species from aluminum, one of the constituents
of common clay. The corundum yields a larger variety of
precious stones of the first rank than any other mineral. They
are unaffected by chemical substances, their colors are the
finest, and their hardness exceeds that of all others except
the diamond, — qualities of great importance in gems.
A French chemist, less than a quarter of a century ago,
prepared a metal on a commercial scale before unknown outside the laboratory, which, when combined with oxygen, forms
alumina, and constitutes, in a pure crystalline state, the precious corundum known as sapphire, ruby, oriental emerald,
oriental topaz, and oriental amethyst.
The first notice taken of corundum as of any scientific
interest was in the last of the eighteenth century, by Sir
Charles Greville ; and though it was used by the nations of
antiquity for dressing stones four thousand years ago, it has
never been properly mined until recently, having been previously obtained in small quantities from surface-washings in
Hindustan, Siberia, China, and some other places.
Col. C. W. Jenks discovered a remarkable deposit of this
  
 
 
  
     
Ch. 12: Historical Diamonds Page of 401 Ch. 13: Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire.
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